Kaspien Holdings, Inc. (formerly Trans World Entertainment) is an American company that provides software and services for ecommerce. Kaspien Holdings operates on Amazon in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and India, as well as Walmart Marketplace, eBay, Google Shopping, and Target. Its interim CEO is Goldman Sachs veteran Brock Kowalchuk, who took over March 11, 2022.

History

Trans World Entertainment Corporation

Based in Albany, New York, Trans World was formed in 1972 by Robert Higgins. It opened its first store, Record Town (formerly Record Land), in 1973. The company went public in July 1986 and has expanded through acquisitions of a number of smaller or failing companies including Strawberries, Coconuts, Camelot Music, and Wherehouse Entertainment. On September 23, 2000, Trans World signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of WaxWorks, and the deal was expected to close by the end of October. As part of a 2002 settlement with 41 states over CD price fixing, Trans World Entertainment, along with retailers Musicland and Tower Records, agreed to pay a $3 million fine. It is estimated that between 1995 and 2000 customers were overcharged by nearly $500 million and up to $5 per album. In February 2006, Trans World acquired the Musicland Group, which owned Musicland, Discount Records, Sam Goody,

Suncoast Motion Picture Company Suncoast Motion Picture Company is an American chain of retail stores specializing in new and used physical media, primarily CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and vinyl records, as well as collectibles. Suncoast is a subsidiary of Sunrise Records (retailer) ...

Media Play Media Play was a chain of retail stores founded in 1992 by Musicland that sold VHS, DVDs, music, electronics, toys, video games, anime, books, and board games similar to Hastings Entertainment, 2nd and Charles, and Half Price Books. Each store ...

, and On Cue. The buyout included a handful of On Cue stores. Trans World operated at a net loss from 2006 to 2010. In fiscal year 2011 it turned a profit of $2.2 million (compared to a $31 million loss in FY 2010). The company closed some locations and increased

margins Margin may refer to: Physical or graphical edges *Margin (typography), the white space that surrounds the content of a page *Continental margin, the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust *Leaf ...

on its products.

Acquiring etailz, Inc.

In October 2016, Trans World acquired etailz, Inc, a third-party online retailer, for $76 million. etailz was founded in 2008 by Josh Neblett, Sarah Wollnick (now Sarah Neblett), and Tom Simpson as GreenCupboards and had operated as a niche retailer of eco-friendly products. The company rebranded to etailz in 2013 after acquiring Ecomom. In January 2019, etailz laid off 20 percent of its workforce after Trans World reported a $14 million loss in the third quarter of 2018. etailz's founder and CEO left the company shortly thereafter in March 2019. In September 2019, etailz hired a new CEO, Kunal Chopra. In January 2020, Trans World sold its FYE segment for $10 million to Sunrise Records and Entertainment Ltd., severing its ties to physical retail stores and leaving etailz as its only remaining subsidiary. In March 2020, Trans World reconstituted its board of directors and its CEO stepped down. New members joined the board to reinforce the company's focus on ecommerce, including etailz founder Tom Simpson.

Rebranding to Kaspien Holdings

On September 3, 2020, Trans World Entertainment rebranded to Kaspien Holdings. Its remaining subsidiary, etailz, also changed their name to Kaspien, merging the two companies and solidifying the focus on ecommerce.

Formerly owned chains before sale to
Sunrise Records Sunrise Records and Entertainment Ltd., operating as Sunrise Records (trading in different countries as Les Disquaires Sunrise in Quebec and HMV in the UK), is a Canadian record store chain based in Ancaster, Ontario. Currently owned by Douglas ...

* Coconut's: Evansville, Indiana * Sam Goody:

St. Clairsville, Ohio St. Clairsville is a city in and the county seat of Belmont County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,096 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Wheeling metropolitan area. History The seat of justice of Belmont County was originally know ...

and Medford, Oregon (Formerly nationwide) *Spec's Music: San Juan, Puerto Rico *

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

, Eatontown, New Jersey, Omaha, Nebraska, and Portland, Oregon. (Formerly nationwide) * SecondSpin.com: Online (sold to Sunrise Records in 2020) * Manifest Discs and Tapes: Charlotte, North Carolina * FYE: Nationwide (mall-based and freestanding)

Defunct

* Camelot Music * CD World: New Jersey and Missouri * Disc Jockey: Southern U.S. (mall-based) *

Incredible Universe Incredible Universe was the name of a chain of American consumer electronics stores in the early to mid-1990s. A typical Incredible Universe was of sales floor and warehouse, stocking around 85,000 items.

, joint venture with Tandy Corporation: Nationwide (17 stores; closed in 1996, six stores sold to Fry's Electronics; ) * Leopold's: California *

: Nationwide (closed in 2006) * Music World: New England states * On Cue: NationwideAlternate Link
via ProQuest.Link
via ProQuest.Alternate link
via ProQuest. * Planet Music: Virginia Beach * Peaches: Nationwide * Record & Tape Traders: Multiple locations in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

area, last location in Towson closed in 2019 * Record Factory: Brisbane, CA * Record Land: Nationwide (mall-based) * Record Town: Nationwide (mall-based) * Record World: Mid-Atlantic and New England states (mall-based) * Saturday Matinee: Now only one location at

Rockaway Townsquare Rockaway Townsquare is a two-level super regional shopping mall, located on Mount Hope Avenue in Rockaway Township, New Jersey. As of 2022, the mall currently features anchors Macy's, JCPenney, & Raymour & Flanigan, as well as Hollister Co., Gues ...

in Rockaway, New Jersey; other locations closed or converted to Suncoast; previously operated in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania *

Spec's Music Inc. Spec's Music was a South Florida-based retail music and video rental chain headquartered in Miami. At its height of popularity, Spec's Music operated 80 stores, including "superstores" in Miami Beach, West Palm Beach, and Sunrise. The company ...

: Florida *Spin Street: Tennessee (closed 2017) * Square Circle: Nationwide (mall-based) * Strawberries: Texas, Maryland, New England and Mid-Atlantic states * Streetside Records: Missouri, Midwest * Tape World: Nationwide (mall-based) * Vibrations:

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

* The Wall: Mid-Atlantic states * Wall To Wall Sound & Video / Listening Booth: Mid-Atlantic states, later converted to The Wall * Wherehouse Entertainment: Arizona, California, Colorado (formerly Rocky Mountain Records), Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington; filed for bankruptcy in 2003; Trans World took control of 111 stores and liquidated nearly a third of them Continued as an online buyer/seller until October 9, 2018 when the website closed.

References

External links

*
f.y.e.
{{authority control Music retailers of the United States American companies established in 1972 Retail companies established in 1972 Companies based in Albany, New York Companies listed on the Nasdaq 1972 establishments in New York (state)